The Turf Plan LLC

THE Turf Plan® is a series of recommendations, or “best management practices” (aka BMPs) for growing turfgrass in the transition zone of the United States. Weather in the transition zone makes the culture of turf and ornamental plants quite challenging. Although perfected in St. Louis, where tight clay soils, wildly fluctuating winter temperatures, periodic droughts, and dreadful heat and humidity make it one of the toughest places to grow turf in the entire , THE Turf Plan® also works great for other states in the transition zone (such as Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc.).

THE Turf Plan® will show you the way to have one of the most beautiful lawns in the neighborhood. This plan was started in 1988, and hundreds, if not thousands, of St. Louisans will attest to the effectiveness of these BMPs. If you subscribe to THE Turf Plan® you’ll receive personalized emails, telling you when it’s time to apply each of the products. For example, if you your lawn is comprised of turf-type fescue, you won’t be bombarded with information for growing zoysiagrass. We’ll break down the science of tending turf into easy to understand concepts and terms, and “spoon feed” the information you need to be the lawn pro! In addition to lawn advice, there’s also plenty of advice for the ornamental gardener. THE Turf Plan® is so unique that it is copyrighted. It’s the perfect plan for the do-it-yourselfer!


The key to the success of THE Turf Plan® is the emphasis upon fall fertilization, which compliments the natural growth cycle of cool season turfgrass in our rugged transition zone. When talking about fertilizer, we’re really talking about the management of nitrogen, plain and simple. Applying the proper dose of fertilizer in September and again in October thickens your turf tremendously and allows the turf to build up a hefty reserve of food (energy). This in turn greatly reduces the need for nitrogen in the spring. Applying heavy doses of nitrogen in the spring is a bad practice, and unfortunately, that’s exactly what the big box stores, major brands and commercial applicators want you to do. Sure, a heavy dose of spring nitrogen will give your turf a quick, green “pop”, but that temporary green up comes with a high price. Furthermore, the vast majority of commercially available products have excessively high nitrogen content. When too much nitrogen is applied in the springtime, the result is succulent turf with a poor root system. Heavy spring nitrogen promotes turf that can’t handle the stresses of summer, because it spent too much time growing leaves and forgetting to invest in its root system. THE Turf Plan® will give you a quality turf that far exceeds that from commercial applicators and other bagged plans. We promise.


THE Turf Plan® can be broken down into a “basic” version, called GOLD LEVEL that will outperform your neighbors who have hired lawn care professionals, or the do-it-yourselfers using a well known bagged plan. If you think you can handle perfection, you should try out our PLATINUM LEVEL turf plan. The PLATINUM LEVEL is only for serious turf tenders, and will quickly make you the envy of the neighborhood. Those of you who master the GOLD LEVEL will quickly upgrade to the PLATINUM LEVEL!


The items used are professional grade products used by the lawn care companies all around the country. Most products are sold in 50-lb bags, for covering 9 to 12,000 sq ft.

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